Captain Ginyu
"The purpose of striking a pose is not to become like a wallpaper. That's why we chant loudly when we pose, to draw attention to our magnificence. I know. I'll just have to raise the stakes a little bit. The best poser gets a candy!" -"A Legend Revealed" Captain Ginyu is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise. He makes his debut in "Hidden Power", the 61st episode of Dragon Ball Z, which premiered on September 12, 1990. He makes his first manga appearance in "The Ginyu Force", the 272nd chapter of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga, issued on October 8, 1990. His name is a pun gyunyu, the Japanese word for milk. Biography Commissioned to Namek *Captain Ginyu is the leading member of an elite mercenary platoon, the eponymous Ginyu Force. He and his comrades are commissioned after Frieza learns that Vegeta is searching for the seven Dragon Balls on Namek, and that the Saiyan's strength is growing rapidly, quickly surpassing Frieza's personal henchmen, Dodoria and Zarbon. The force spends five days traveling the stars en route to Namek, and upon reaching the planet, Frieza dispatches the team to capture Vegeta, kill his two companions (Krillin and Gohan) and recover the Dragon Balls which have since been stolen by Vegeta. Efficient as they are, the Ginyu Force does not take long to track down their targets and locate all seven Dragon Balls. Initially, Captain Ginyu intends to slay Vegeta himself, but when his subordinates complain that they haven't had the opportunity to fight, Ginyu concedes, allowing them to deal with Vegeta and the others while he returns the Dragon Balls to Frieza. Captain Ginyu transfers the Dragon Balls back to Frieza, but the two almost instantly discover that they can't activate the artifacts to summon its Eternal Dragon. Remembering one of his previous Namek victims whose last words told of how Frieza could never make a wish even with the seven Dragon Balls gathered, Frieza deduces that there must be a secret Namek language custom used to activate them. The tyrant uses his scouter to investigate the vicinity for Nameks, finding some in an area that his forces left untouched. Captain Ginyu volunteers to force the secret out of them, but Frieza declines in favor of handling the task himself. In the meantime, Captain Ginyu is assigned to watch over the seven Dragon Balls. "Body Change!" While attending the Dragon Balls, Captain Ginyu is joined by one of his comrades, a delirious Jeice, who confirms that a powerful warrior has arrived on Namek, and the other Ginyu Force members, Recoome, Burter and Guldo, are dead. Captain Ginyu advises against Jeice's proposal to warn Frieza, as he does not want this to compromise his reputation. Ginyu decides to confront this new fighter, Goku, himself leaving his subordinates in the care of the Dragon Balls (in the manga, Jeice is left to hide the balls, while in the anime, they are left to be buried by Frieza's low-class soldiers). Upon convening with Goku, Captain Ginyu determines that the Saiyan is capable of manipulating his power level, speculating his true strength to be somewhere around 60,000 (in contrast to what has appeared on the Ginyu Force's scouters as a mere 5,000). The commander's first advance on Goku is only amplified when Vegeta escapes the scene in flight, in spite of the alliance he and Goku had formed specially for the encounter. This distraction leaves Goku open for an elbow bash to the face. Goku and Ginyu continue to do battle, with Ginyu eventually realizing his shortcomings against the Saiyan from Earth. Ginyu started to believe that Goku might even be a Super Saiyan, however he disproved this as no Saiyan he ever encountered or heard about was as sympathetic as Goku. Despite managing to capture Goku in a full nelson, Ginyu releases him upon deducing that he was only able to take hold of Goku as a result of Jeice's interference. For this he admonishes Jeice, even threatening to kill him if he intrudes on the conflict once more. Accepting that he is at odds with Goku, Ginyu's next action is a startling one. He spontaneously stabs his chest, before revealing his true plot: resorting to his ability to exchange bodies in an attempt to level with Goku. The body change is a success, but Captain Ginyu fails to make the most of Goku's shell's power level of 180,000, stopping short at just 23,000. After being battered by Gohan, Krillin and Vegeta, Ginyu attempts switching bodies with Vegeta twice. The first time, Goku, still rendered within Ginyu's shell, interferes with the attack. The second time, the further injured Goku successfully tosses a Namek frog within the trajectory of the Body Change's energy wave, thus rendering Captain Ginyu's soul trapped within the shell of the frog. Unable to pronounce the technique, he is unable to transfer himself to a new body. Captain Ginyu is ultimately the only member of the Ginyu Force not to be killed by Vegeta. Though Vegeta has the opportunity to finish the captain off after Ginyu switches bodies with the frog, Vegeta opts not to kill him so as not to get "toad guts" all over his "nice clean boots." It is unknown why Captain Ginyu never chose to switch bodies with someone of even greater strength, such as Frieza. However, since he was unable to access the totality of Goku's powers, it can be assumed that he never chooses in fear of not being able to control the newly gained body. Filler escapades In Dragon Ball Z, Ginyu continues making subsequent filler appearances as a frog. Here, he is discovered by Bulma and kept as her companion. After realizing that the frog understands human dialect, Bulma creates a device used to translate his croaking into speech, which Ginyu in turn uses to betray Bulma with his regained ability to pronounce the Body Change technique. Seizing Bulma's body, Ginyu uses Bulma's airski to visit the site of Frieza and Goku's showdown, also attended by Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan; Bulma takes hold of the airski, and despite Ginyu's attempt to lose the frog, Bulma is able to reach her oblivious friends. Captain Ginyu wages an attack on the trio, before deciding to switch bodies with the most powerful of the three, Piccolo. Gohan comes to realize that the frog is in actuality Bulma, which leads him to throw Bulma in the path of the wave, reverting Ginyu to the shell of a frog once again, and restoring Bulma to her human body. After a wish made to Porunga, the Eternal Dragon of Namek, Ginyu is later transported to Earth with all living beings on Namek except Goku and Frieza. Afterwards, Ginyu goes on to live among the frogs surrounding Capsule Corporation. It is never revealed what becomes of the frog whose soul is within Ginyu's shell, save for one scene where he hops around the Earth forest where Porunga evacuates the people of Namek to. Ginyu makes infrequent appearances in later episodes as a frog, such as outside a window at Goku's house during Gohan's 11th birthday, or when he is picked up by a Great Saiyaman-disguised Gohan, after an attempt by Sharpner to unmask him. Death Ginyu is ultimately killed when Kid Buu destroys the Earth. He makes his final appearance in Dragon Ball Z in Hell, after having apparently been reunited with his body, where he watches the fight between Goku and Kid Buu through a crystal ball along with Ogres and fellow ''Dragon Ball'' villains. It is also presumed that the frog trapped in Ginyu's body is back in his own body and was wished back to Earth in his original body along with all the good people of Earth. Captain Ginyu is shown again in the Super 17 Saga of Dragon Ball GT, but he is defeated again and sent back to Hell. Special abilities * Body Change * Galaxy Dynamite * ''Ki'' Blast, the most basic form of energy wave. * Milky Cannon * Parmesan Shower * Flight Trivia * Captain Ginyu's "Character Introduction" biography in the ''Budokai Tenkaichi'' video game series states that Ginyu has used the Body Change technique numerous times in his career, and that his humanoid appearance in Dragon Ball Z is the result of a previous Body Change, rather than Ginyu's original shell. However, this is debatable, as after dying in the body of a Namek frog (the product of an awry Body Change), Captain Ginyu assumes this form during his stay in Hell. * In the Funimation dub, from the Captain Ginyu Saga up until the end of the Perfect Cell Saga, the narrator was played by Dale Kelly, the same voice actor as Captain Ginyu. Voice actors * Japanese dub: Hideyuki Hori * Ocean Group dub: Richard Newman * Funimation dub: Dale Kelly (1st dub) and Brice Armstrong (redub) Kyle Hebert (remastered box sets) * Latin American dub: César Soto Category:Dragon Ball characters Category:Extraterrestrial supervillains Category:Anime and manga characters with superhuman strength Category:Anime and manga characters who can move at superhuman speeds Category:Anime and manga characters who can fly Category:Anime and manga martial artists Category:Anime and manga martial artists Category:Fictional mercenaries Category:Fictional captains Category:Fictional private military members Category:Fictional mass murderers Category:Fictional frogs and toads Category:1990 comics characters debuts